Actor was incensed by his wife's appointment of Arminka Helic and Chloe Dalton and it led to fierce rows on holiday
BRAD Pitt grew furious at Angelina Jolie for surrounding herself with a “coven” of powerful female pals.
They include two former political aides who demanded Brad axe half the couple’s support staff.
On a mission . . . Angelina Jolie with Baroness Helic and Chloe Dalton on a fact-finding trip to Bosnia
Angelina’s divorce lawyer Laura Wasser is another close confidante along with pop star Gwen Stefani.
Brad was most incensed by his wife’s appointment of Arminka Helic, 48, and Chloe Dalton, 37, who both worked for ex-Tory leader William Hague.
They were brought in to handle the actress and campaigner’s public image and write her speeches.
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Brad felt Arminka, a former Bosnian refugee, started meddling in other affairs. He also hated their secret meetings where they would plot Angelina’s political ambitions.
Insiders say their rows were reminiscent of Mr & Mrs Smith, the 2005 black comedy where they first fell for each other. The film tells of two spies in a stagnating marriage who are told to kill each other.
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One argument this summer at their rented home in Richmond, South West London, got so heated that Brad stormed out and flew to the Canary Islands.
Friends say he sat up drinking into the early hours with his entourage and female pals.
And as Angelina spent more and more time away campaigning with the women, Brad spent less time at the couple’s British home, — preferring to drink with pals at an estate they own in the South of France.
A source said: “Brad sees the women as a coven. He was furious at some of Arminka’s decisions.
“He felt she and Chloe, who seemed to travel everywhere with the family, were brainwashing Angelina from the start.
“The rows they had at the London house were legendary.
“It was utter carnage. They have always made decisions together — suddenly it was Angelina making them with her two advisers.
“He felt he was married to a politician all of a sudden.
“It was only a matter of time before the rows reached a head and it became too much.”
Arminka advised them to dump staff including Brad’s security detail.
The source added: “He worked with some of them for nearly 20 years. They were his friends and in the click of a finger they were gone. Most now work for other celebs.”
Singer Gwen, 46, has been a rock for Angelina during her troubles.
The pair bonded after Gwen’s son Kingston was born within days of Angelina’s daughter Shiloh in May 2006. Gwen recently endured her own heartache, splitting from husband Gavin Rossdale.
Lawyer Laura, 48, a single mum of two, is set to become Angelina’s right-hand woman after being hired to oversee her divorce and custody battle.
She is said to charge more than £600 per hour, and earlier this year represented actor Johnny Depp during his split from Amber Heard.
Laura has also acted for Mariah Carey, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher and Heidi Klum in marriage crises.
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But it is Chloe and Arminka who hold most sway in Angelina’s camp.
Besides advising the star, they also became business partners with her last year.
They are listed as directors of shared company JP.D.H London, an acronym of their initials — the Jolie Pitt Dalton Helic foundation.
Both women made the Power 1,000 list three years ago, a who’s who of the London political and media scene.
Arminka is a baroness after being made a Life Peer. She fled ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in the 1990s and went on to advise Tory politicians before ending up in Angelina’s corner.
She is now the driving force behind the actress’s move into politics. They first grew close five years ago after she introduced the actress to ex-Foreign Secretary Mr Hague.
At one stage Arminka was the Tory minister’s chief of staff in all but title. She is said to have urged him to watch Angelina’s 2011 film In The Land of Blood and Honey, about the use of rape as a weapon of war.
The three eventually teamed up to launch the UK’s Global Sexual Violence Initiative, with Mr Hague recruiting Angelina as the star attraction at a four-day summit in 2014.
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Angelina and Arminka have been joined at the hip ever since. The actress has even gone as far as to brand the politician her mentor.
In 2014 she watched from the gallery and celebrated as Arminka was established as a Conservative peer, having been nominated to the Lords by then Prime Minister David Cameron.
Angelina said afterwards: “I’m extremely proud of her. She has been in many ways a mentor to me and she is an extraordinary woman and I’m very, very honoured to be here today.”
Last September the pair co-wrote an article for The Times about refugees.
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Angelina has also taken to lecturing at Arminka’s old university the London School of Economics.
Angelina’s other ally Chloe was a former speechwriter for Mr Hague and has performed the same role for Prince William since last year,
She grew up in foreign affairs, as the daughter of Sir Richard Dalton, former UK ambassador to Libya and Iran.